Guardian Angel
by Stelynn
Summary: Chloe deals with loss. Clark does his best to help her.


A/N: This is a response to the following challenge: "Chloe's father dies and she ends up staying with the Kents. One night, a grief-stricken Chloe cries herself to sleep and, late in the night, Martha gets up for some reason and finds Clark sitting against the door of Chloe's room. 'Guarding it' - sound asleep."  
  
A/N: This is my first Smallville fanfic, so please keep that in mind, there aren't any spoilers, but it's probably set somewhere early in the second season.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the character. I'm not making any money off of this. And if the characters were mine I'd probably be writing episodes instead of fanfic...  
  
Enjoy!  
  
  
  
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A freak accident. An act of God. Another case for the wall of weird. No matter what you wanted to call it Chloe knew just one thing. It shouldn't have happened. Her father was gone. It had happened so quickly, so unexpectedly. One day he was there being the embarrassing, but loving father that he'd always been; the next day he was… dead.  
  
Not wanting Chloe to have to move in with other family and lose the rest of her friends in the process Clark had decided that the only answer was to get her to live with him. Not because he'd decided that he had romantic feelings for her though. Clark loved Chloe, but it was the love that was found between siblings. After a lot of work on his part his parents had finally caved. The day after the funeral Clark had been able to present Chloe with the first bit of good news since the incident.  
  
Arriving at her house Clark found Chloe somberly packing her things while her relatives had run out to find more boxes. "Chloe, I want you to come stay with me. As long as you're relatives say that it's okay you can come live at my house. That way you don't have to leave Smallville and all of us," he told her.  
  
"Clark…" Chloe said. She was touched to say the least. Tears were already rolling down her cheeks.  
  
Stepping closer Clark took her in his arms. Since it had happened that seemed to have been his place, not that he minded at all. After they'd first met Clark and Chloe had been close friends, and that's what friends were for. Gently rubbing her back with one hand and cradling her head with his other Clark whispered soothingly, "Shh… It's okay. Everything will be alright, I promise."  
  
A few minutes later Chloe had finally gotten her composure back, "Thank you, Clark. You don't know what this means to me. Are you sure that it's ok?"  
  
"Of course it is, Chloe. My parents love you, besides we've got plenty of space and none of us could bear to see you leave," Clark reassured her. Hearing the front door open and close Clark took a step back, his hands still resting on Chloe's shoulders. "Do you want me to go talk to them?" he asked, hunching over so that he could easily make eye contact.  
  
Chloe just nodded, still trying to get her emotions under control.  
  
With a smile Clark kissed Chloe on the forehead before heading for the door of her room, but he was interrupted.  
  
"Clark," Chloe said, the tears streaks still glistening on her cheeks, "Thank you."  
  
"You're always welcome," he told her, pausing another moment before he left to get everything straightened out with the family that was planning on taking Chloe with them.  
  
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By the time that Chloe made it down the stairs Clark had gotten her family to agree to her staying in Smallville. The group then finished packing. There were some things that Chloe's family would take care of it, but most of the rest would be coming to the Kents, either to make-up Chloe's new room or to be stored in the barn until they were needed. Once the boxes had been appropriately separated between the Kent truck and the mini-van that Chloe's family had driven down in goodbyes were said and Chloe and Clark saw her family off.  
  
It wasn't until the car was out of sight that Clark turned to face Chloe again, "I think that it's time to get you moved in over at my place."  
  
In a move that caught Clark by surprise Chloe practically jumped him as she wrapped her arms around him in as tight a hug a she could muster, "Thank you so much. You don't know what it means to me."  
  
Clark didn't say anything; he just stood there, wrapping his arms around her and holding close until Chloe finally pulled away. Looking up she said, "I'm sorry."  
  
"For what?" Clark asked his confusion clear on his face.  
  
"Well, I know that my emotional dam has kind of broken down…"  
  
"Chloe," came the stern reply, "That's not something that you should be sorry for. Ever."  
  
Nodding Chloe softly said, "Thank you."  
  
Clark barely heard it, and replied so quietly that he didn't think that she'd hear him, "Your welcome."  
  
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It had been two weeks since Chloe lost her father, and one since she'd moved in with the Kents. Things had been going well, and a rhythm was finally being worked out. Granted Clark had to be a little more careful when he did many of his chores, but he didn't mind.  
  
That night had been when it came. It was the two week anniversary of Chloe's loss, and after an afternoon spent at the cemetery she'd shut herself in her room. She hadn't been hungry or thirsty. Martha had made an attempt to comfort the girl, but when it was clear that she just wanted to deal with the grief on her own Mrs. Kent had relented. Jonathan had stood clear; this was definitely not his type of thing. Clark had just been lost and confused. He'd spend some time consoling her, but it hadn't seemed effective, and eventually Clark had felt that he was being more of a burden than anything else.  
  
Bidding Chloe a good night he'd gone out to his loft in the barn, but even that hadn't helped. Even his parents had known to give him some space as well. It was in the middle of Clark's pacing that he heard the approach of foot steps. Even before he turned to see who it was Clark had known that Lana was the one to come calling.  
  
"Clark? I home I'm not interrupting anything…"  
  
"No," Clark assured her. "I was trying to think, but I haven't been getting anywhere. How are you?"  
  
"I'm fine, what about you?"  
  
Clark just shrugged before turning to look up at the sky and the stars overhead.  
  
"What about Chloe?" Lana asked. She and Chloe had been growing very close, and it had been hurting her to not be able to do more.  
  
"I don't know," Clark practically whispered as he made the few steps over to the couch before dropping himself into to. "I mean, everything was going well, and then today… No matter what I do it doesn't help. I feel useless."  
  
"Clark," Lana said her tone soft as she sat down next to him. "Chloe's grieving. No matter what anyone does to help her, she still has to go through that, and it isn't easy, but it's something that has to happen. All that we can do is be here when she needs us. You have to just stand back and let her deal with some of this on her own."  
  
Working to keep his composure Clark tilted his head so that he could make eye contact with Lana, "When did you figure all of this out?"  
  
Lana gave him a hopeful smile. "Just trust me. Being there for her, even if she doesn't come looking for the help is what she needs. Knowing that you're there if and when she needs you is what counts."  
  
In an attempt to keep her from seeing the tears that were about to spill down his cheeks Clark wrapped his arms around Lana, pulling her into a hug, probably more comforting to him that it was to her. "Thank you, Lana," he said.  
  
When he pulled back the tears were gone, but Lana knew that they had been there, at one point of another. "Well, I should get home, you go take care of Chloe, but either of you needs anything call me, alright?" she said.  
  
"Promise," Clark agreed, standing up.  
  
Lana stood and then pushed herself on her tip-toes to plant a light, friendly kiss on Clark's cheek. "I'll see you two later." She then slowly made her way out the way that she'd come, hoping that she'd been able to contribute something, however small.  
  
When Clark had returned to his room he'd heard Chloe still crying herself to sleep, and he didn't think that it was just because of his super-powers. After slipping into a comfortable pair of sweat pants and well-worn t-shirt Clark had thought back to what Lana had told him and he knew what he had to do.  
  
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It wasn't until nearly the middle of the night that the crying had stopped. Hoping that Chloe had finally found some peace in sleep Mrs. Kent wanted to check, just in case there was something that she could do. Stepping out of the room that she shared with Jonathan Martha had rounded the corner to see something that caught her by surprise. There, just outside Chloe's door Clark was seated, his back and head rested against her door frame while his legs stretched out, his toes just short of touching the opposite wall.  
  
He was sound asleep as she knew Chloe must have been too. After fetching a blanket off of his bed Martha spread it over Clark's body, even though she knew that with his powers he wouldn't get cold anyway. Before disappearing back to her own bed Martha looked proudly at her son and knew that he was just what Chloe needed… A Guardian Angel.  
  
  
  
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please review.... 


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